Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)

WHAT ARE MMA?

Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full contact combat sport
in which a wide variety of fighting techniques are used,
including striking (such as kicks, knees and punches)
and grappling (such as clinch holds, pinning holds,
submission holds, sweeps, takedowns and throws).

Some unarmed hand to hand combat techniques are considered
illegal in most or all modern competition, such as biting,
eye-gouging, fish-hooking and small joint manipulation.
Over the last ten years, strikes to the groin have become
illegal in all sanctioned organizations. The legality
of other techniques such as elbows, headbutts and spinal
locks vary according to competition or organization.

Modern mixed martial arts tournaments as a popular
phenomenon emerged in 1993 with the Ultimate
Fighting Championship, based on the concept
of pitting different fighting styles against each other
in competition with minimal rules in place, in an attempt
to determine which system would be more effective in
a real, unregulated combat situation. In the late 1990s
and early 2000s, mixed martial arts events implemented
additional rules for the safety of the athletes and
to promote acceptance of the sport, while maintaining
as much of the original no-holds-barred concept as possible.

The history of the modern MMA event can be traced to
the Gracie family's vale tudo martial arts tournaments
in Brazil starting in the 1920s, and early mixed martial
arts matches hosted by Antonio Inoki in Japan in the
1970s. The fighting concept of combining various combat
disciplines gained popularity in the late 1960s and
early 1970s with the emergence of Bruce Lee and his
theories of mixing various martial art styles. The sport
gained international exposure and widespread publicity
in the United States in 1993, when Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
fighter Royce Gracie dominated the Ultimate Fighting
Championship, sparking a revolution in the martial arts,
while in Japan the continued interest in the sport resulted
in the creation of the PRIDE Fighting Championships
in 1997.

A victory in a bout is normally gained by the judges'
decision after an allotted amount of time has elapsed,
a stoppage by the referee or the fight doctor (in the
event that the competitor is injured or can no longer
defend himself intelligently), a submission, by a competitor's
cornerman throwing in the towel, or by knockout.

HISTORY

One of the earliest forms of widespread unarmed combat
sports with minimal rules was Greek pankration, which
was introduced into the Olympic Games in 648 B.C.
No-holds-barred events reportedly took place in the
late 1800s when wrestlers representing a huge range
of fighting styles including various catch wrestling
styles, Greco-Roman wrestling and many others met in
tournaments and music-hall challenge matches throughout
Europe.
Boxing vs. jujutsu contests were popular entertainments
throughout Europe, Japan and the Pacific Rim during
the early 1900s (“Merikan”).
Professional wrestling died out after World War I and
was reborn in two streams: "shoot", in which
the fighters actually competed, and "show,"
which evolved into modern sports entertainment professional
wrestling.

Training

Mixed martial artists train in a variety of styles that
have been proven effective in the ring, so that they can
be effective in all the phases of combat. Typical styles,
taught prior to an individual career, are: stand-up, clinch
and ground.

Stand-up: Various forms of boxing, kickboxing,
Muay Thai, and/or forms of full contact karate are trained
to improve footwork, elbowing, kicking, kneeing and punching. Clinch: Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling,
Sambo, and Judo are trained to improve clinching, takedowns
and throws, while Muay Thai is trained to improve the
striking aspect of the clinch. Ground: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, shoot wrestling,
catch wrestling, Judo, and Sambo are trained to improve
submission holds, and defense against them. Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu, pankration, and styles of amateur wrestling
are trained to improve positioning and maintain ground
control.

/source: wikipedia/

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